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Foreign Policy Mag Applauds Merkel For ‘Keeping The Doors Ajar’

REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Foreign Policy magazine Monday announced a list of the top decision-makers of 2016, which praised Angela Merkel for letting in a flood of refugees into Germany, and said supporters of Donald Trump and Brexit voted against their “own self-interest.”

The foreign affairs publication was unabashed about their political beliefs in the awarding of the “100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016.” They wrote: “An ugly strain of populism reared its head in America this year. After months of spewing sexist, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic rhetoric, Donald Trump stunned pollsters—and the citizens whose ballots earned Hillary Clinton the popular vote—by winning the White House. Nativist politics won out, and Americans joined other populations, including Brexit supporters and Colombians who rejected the long-awaited peace deal, in voting against their self-interest.”

“Through democratic means, fear surpassed reason repeatedly in 2016, leaving many wondering who will handle the unprecedented crises that the world faces,” the foreign affairs publication added. But fear not, “The Global Thinkers honored here are proof that, as a society’s pillars falter, individuals step in to bear the weight.”

Among great “global thinkers” is Hillary Clinton, who they praised for “going high when others go low.” “Facing an opponent whose campaign embraced fear and prejudice. Clinton took the high ground against hate,” Foreign Policy wrote. (RELATED: Did An 8th Grader With Opinionated Parents Write The Intro To Newsweek’s Retracted Madam President Edition?)

Foreign Policy also considered United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon a top global leader. They applauded him for “outrunning Donald Trump to save the planet.” Foreign Policy wrote that he fought against the “specter of Donald Trump” by ratifying the Paris emissions agreement in one year.

The whole theme connecting Foreign Policy’s top decision makers is a rejection of the popular will. They wrote about Merkel, “Since she opened Europe to waves of refugees last year, Angela Merkel’s party has paid dearly in regional elections. Across the continent, her name has become a four-letter word to nationalist and xenophobic politicians on the left and right.”

“She’s refused to pander to populist scapegoating—instead doubling down with a new law to integrate refugees into Germany,” Foreign Policy said. In September, Merkel expressed regret for her refugee policy and said, “If I could, I would turn back the time by many, many years.”

Similarly for Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Policy calls him a great decision maker for a move they even acknowledge has serious faults. “Resettlement remains fraught—advocates and politicians have warned that some new residents might depend on public welfare indefinitely—but the Canadian leader has set an example for a humane North American response to Syria’s mass displacement,” the foreign affairs publication said.

Foreign Policy’s hyperbole didn’t stop with their description of Trump’s “threat” to the world. The supposedly reputable publication equated North Carolina’s law requiring people to go to the bathroom corresponding with their biological sex to laws enforcing segregation in the American South. They framed Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s fight against the “bathroom bill” as “lambasting the new Jim Crow.”